Don't Bet On It
by sandybeliever
Summary: Another installment in my Aubrey series. Johnny and Aubrey go to their first Lamaze class and Johnny is his typical self. A short fun story collaborated with my good friend Rescue45 who gave me most of the ideas for this. Thanks, friend!


Don't Bet On It

"Okay everyone, come on in and have a seat on the floor in a semi-circle," the Lamaze instructor called out as Johnny and Aubrey came into the room. "My name is Sierra and I'll be your instructor today. Welcome," the woman smiled sweetly at each couple. Her hair hung to her waist in a pigtail. She had on a tank top, a patchwork skirt that hung to her sandaled feet and bangles dangled from her wrists.

Johnny stuck out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Sarah. I'm John Gage and this is my wife, Aubrey."

"Sierra," the woman corrected.

"Huh?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny, her name is Sierra." Aubrey whispered.

"Seera?"

"It's Sierra. My parents named me after the area where I was conceived at First Lake in Nevada," the woman said patiently. Her voice was calm and lyrical, which Johnny found annoying.

"Oh? Why didn't they name you 'First' then?" Johnny snorted and Aubrey smacked him in the arm then pulled him toward the center of the room.

"Ow, whatya do that for?" Johnny whined, rubbing his arm. Aubrey just rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor. Johnny looked at the other couples and saw that the men were sitting behind their wives so he did the same.

To the right he saw two women getting comfortable. He stared openly at them and then a look of understanding came across his face. He smirked and whispered to Aubrey, "How do you think they decided…ow!" Aubrey knew where his question was going and pinched his thigh. "Geez, Aubrey, cut it out."

Sierra sat at the opening in the semi-circle and crossed her legs in front of her. "Good morning and welcome. I just want to begin with a little background information on the Lamaze method. It was created by Dr. Fernand Lamaze back in 1951 in France from methods he had observed in Russia. It consists of childbirth education, relaxation and breathing techniques along with emotional support from the father or partner."

Johnny glanced at the two women to his right at that moment but kept his mouth shut.

"Now we are going to be spending a lot of time together so let's take a few moments to introduce ourselves to the group."

Johnny waited patiently until it was his turn. When Sierra nodded at him he began, "Well, my name is Johnny Gage and I'm a firefighter paramedic. I have delivered ten babies now. Being a paramedic, I've learned to be calm under stress. That's the first thing you need to know is to stay calm." Johnny went on and on about different things he had done as a paramedic and finally Aubrey huffed letting him know he should stop talking.

"I'm sorry, I guess I was rambling." He stopped talking and looked around the room to find everyone staring at him.

"That's okay, Johnny." Sierra said patiently but continued to look at him. Johnny got fidgety until Aubrey turned and looked at him.

With a confused look he glanced around embarrassed. "What? I thought you wanted me to stop talking."

Sighing, Aubrey said, "Hi, I'm Aubrey Gage, Johnny's wife."

Johnny winced, "Oh yeah, sorry."

Sierra moved on to the next couple.

~ E ~

During the break, everyone mingled around the refreshment table at the back of the room. Aubrey steered Johnny away from anyone that she thought may cause him to say something inappropriate.

Johnny picked up a spoon and poked at the bowl of white goo on the table. "What the heck is this stuff, Bree?"

"It's yogurt, Johnny."

Johnny put the tip of his tongue on the spoon and twisted up his face. "Ugh, that's disgusting."

Hearing him, Sierra came to the table saying, "Did you know that one cup of plain, low-fat yogurt contains more calcium than milk, is high in protein, and doesn't have any added sugar?"

"Really?" Aubrey asked, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment. Johnny simply scoffed and dropped the gooey spoon onto a tray.

"You could always try dressing it up with fruit or some crunchy granola." Sierra added drifting away to speak to another couple.

Johnny glanced around the table making a face, "There is nothing here that I would even consider eating, Bree." He glanced down the table to make sure the woman was out of earshot and whispered. "She's some kind of hippie."

"Johnny," Aubrey began to scold.

"No I mean it," Johnny continued to whisper out of the side of his mouth all the while keeping an eye on the instructor across the room. "Can we trust her?"

Aubrey hung her head and sighed. "You are lucky I love you so much," she said looking up and shaking her head at him. Deciding to change the subject, she said, "I'm looking forward to practicing the breathing techniques after the break."

"Don't you worry about that, I know what to do."

"Johnny, you've never had a baby," Aubrey replied.

"I've delivered plenty of babies, I'll have you know. And I've assisted in quite a few more," Johnny said proudly.

"Yes, but it will be different when it is your own child."

Johnny opened his mouth to disagree when Sierra clapped her hands. "Everyone back to your places."

After the breathing practice, Sierra was going over some of the cravings the women may have. She started to explain about why women have certain cravings when Johnny piped up, "You're not kidding. If I have to run out late at night for another carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream I think I'll..." He felt a sharp pain as Aubrey jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. He mouthed _'ow'_ and rubbed his ribs. "Never mind."

Next Sierra explained how most women have plenty of time to get to the hospital, especially with their first child. Johnny raised his hand and said, "I don't know about that. I was on one call where it was the woman's first baby and we barely made into the bedroom before she delivered." He grinned as he remembered the delivery and also the first time he delivered a baby. John noticed everyone was looking at him – again – and heard Aubrey quietly groan.

~ E ~

The next morning Johnny and Roy headed to Rampart for supplies right after roll call.

"Didn't you have your first Lamaze class yesterday, Johnny? How'd it go?"

"Yeah we did. It went fine, just fine. I gave the instructor a few pointers."

"Oh you did, huh?" Roy asked skeptically, backing into the parking spot and heading into Rampart.

"Sure, she was happy for the help." Johnny said looking very serious.

As they entered the building, he spotted the Lamaze instructor coming from the elevator. "Hey, there she is." Johnny said waving. Roy watched as the woman spotted Johnny and glanced around nervously. It almost seemed that she was looking for a way to get away. Finally, she turned back and gave Johnny a weak smile.

"Hello, Johnny," she said. "Nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too, Reno." Johnny said. The woman's face fell. "Uh, wait, no. That's not your name. Uh, ha ha, um." Johnny stammered. Folding her hands across her chest, she waited. "Don't tell me. Oo, it's…no."

"Goodbye, Mr. Gage." Sierra said storming out into the parking lot.

Johnny ran a hand through his hair as he watched the woman leave as Roy just smirked.

"I think I'm going to need to change Lamaze classes, Roy," he whined. "Aubrey's gonna kill me."


End file.
